Yoga Can Erase Effects of Chronic Pain, Research Suggests

New research suggests that yoga’s positive effects on grey matter go hand in hand in affecting how the brain processes and manages pain, and can alleviate chronic pain.

via Good Magazine:

Yoga’s potential to boost your body’s flexibility, strength, and even posture ispretty well known. What’s only now beginning to be explored is yoga’s effect on how the human brain processes and manages pain. At a recent medical conference, researchers presented evidence to suggest that practitioners of yoga not only improve their physical well-being, but may, in fact, be turning back the clock when it comes to the neurological effects of chronic pain.

To understand how yoga may affect the brain’s ability to process pain, you first need to understand what matters: Grey matter. That, explainsMedical Daily, is the nervous system tissue linked to pain tolerance. Larger grey matter mass in key areas of the cerebral cortex and sub-cortex of the brain have, through previous research, been shown to contribute to a person’s capacity to tolerate pain. Conversely, smaller grey matter mass has been linked to memory—and even cognitive—impairment.